


Hitch Your Post Closer to Me

by facelessoldwoman



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Christmas Reunions, M/M, Murder Family, Season 2 spoilers, Terrible Aftershave, Winston gets the best lines, best laid plans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 13:21:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2774537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/facelessoldwoman/pseuds/facelessoldwoman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You took everything from me, Dr. Lecter,” Will Graham said, “You took away my sanity and my freedom. You stabbed everyone I love.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hitch Your Post Closer to Me

It was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even one of Will Graham’s many stolen dogs. The entire countryside was covered in white snow. No one had been murdered in days. The peace was so pervasive that Will Graham felt uneasy.

Will Graham sighed.  He finished fixing and reassembling the last broken boat motor he inexplicably kept and stored in his land-locked home and then he wiped the sheen of sweat from his brow. The sweat from his intentionally tussled and gorgeously curled hair tickled the back of his neck. He was wearing a white undershirt, baby blue cotton boxers, and nothing else.

“Winston, I am not a man born for peace,” Will Graham said, scratching his preferred canine companion behind the ear. Will Graham looked meaningfully at Winston and thought: _Don’t tell the others you’re my favorite, Winston. Fathers should never have favorites._

Winston looked at Will Graham as if to say, _Oh Will, you sad sweaty little bitch._

There was a knock at the door.

Will Graham answered his door because he always answered his door, even in the middle of the night. Will Graham did not put more clothes on because Will Graham always went outside in whatever he happened to be wearing at the moment- even if he was only wearing underwear. So Will Graham answered the door in his undershirt and his pale blue cotton boxers and nothing else. His breath met the cold night air and turned to steam. His nipples hardened and poked against the thin fabric of his undershirt, like two tiny tents on his chest.

“Who is at my door?” Will Graham asked into the darkness. Will Graham could see no one. The person knocking must have retreated into the shadows beyond Will Graham’s warm doorstep. Either that or Will Graham was suffering auditory hallucinations again. Will Graham made a tiny Christmas Wish that he wasn’t experiencing the side effects of encephalitis.

The darkness answered, “An old friend.”

“Hannibal Lecter?” Will Graham asked, stepping back into his house, “You’re not my friend. Not anymore.”

“How can you say that?” Hannibal Lecter said before he stepped into the light, “I gave you everything Will.”

 _Damn him for looking so hot_. Hannibal Lecter was wearing a teal plaid overcoat and a black wool cap that brought out the cavernous blackness of Lecter’s eyes. His cheeks were rosy from the cold wind and he was already taking off his mittens to reveal long delicate fingers.

 _Oh the devilish acts those hands have committed_ , Will Graham thought ruefully. Will Graham hid behind the door, lest he pitch a third tent in spite of himself.

“You took everything from me, Dr. Lecter,” Will Graham said, “You took away my sanity and my freedom. You stabbed everyone I love.”

Hannibal continued walking forward onto the wooden porch and toward the front door. Will Graham did not close the door, and Hannibal knew that Will Graham would not close the door. Hannibal spoke with that somewhat muffled inflection Will Graham knew so well, “The past is in the past, Will. Do you know what it is to forgive?”

“Abigail,” Will Graham said, defeat in his voice, “You took away Abigail.”

Hannibal reached forward and set his hand on Will’s shoulder. Will could not pull away. Whatever terrible fate awaited him at the end of the night Will was determined to see it through.

“I meant to give you something beautiful,” Hannibal said, “We were her fathers, Will. We could have been a family.”

“You stabbed her in the neck,” Will said, “You’re no better than her real dad.”

“Says the man who killed her father,” Hannibal said, “You know the power to hold a life in your hand, the same as me.”

“I don’t feel powerful,” Will Graham said, “I couldn’t save her.”

“I tried to keep her safe for you,” Hannibal said, “You rejected my most precious gift; you broke my heart, Will.”

“Did you love her?” Will Graham asked, looking up for the first time into the full power of Hannibal’s entrancing gaze. Will Graham could not look away, he was utterly entranced.

“I love **_you_** ,” Hannibal said, “It’s always been you, Will, Always.”

“Is this another trick, Dr. Lecter?” Will Graham asked.

“It’s Christmas, and on Christmas you tell the truth,” Hannibal said.

“That’s not true,” Will Graham said, “You just stole a line from Love Actually.”

“Just because it’s from Love Actually doesn’t mean that it isn’t true,” Hannibal said.

“I’ve waited so long for you to say those words,” Will Graham said, “But you can imagine how you disemboweling me has given me trust issues.”

“Oh Will, you sweaty slut,” Hannibal said, “Trust issues are the least of your problems.”

Will and Hannibal laughed. Will Graham clutched at his sides and Hannibal clung to Will for support. They tumbled together over the threshold and into the warm air inside, falling on a bed of soft rugs. Hannibal kicked the door shut with his foot and brought himself onto his elbows to hang over Will. Will stopped laughing, breathless.

“Still the same aftershave,” Hannibal said, leaning in to smell the myriad of subtle aromas clinging to Will Graham’s underwear clad frame. Will Graham shuddered involuntarily, and Hannibal crooked the side of his mouth in satisfaction, “The one with the ship on the bottle.”

 “I keep getting it for Christmas,” Will said, his voice soft and raspy.

Hannibal would never admit to liking such an unrefined toiletry, but he loved how Will smelled of the sea. Hannibal often imagined Will Graham wading in some salty bayou. Sometimes, if he really let his imagination run wild, Hannibal pictured that he would be invited to come along. It was his deepest and darkest secret that the person who bought Will Graham the abhorrent aftershave was none other than Hannibal himself, and nothing made him happier than to find that Will Graham was still wearing it- _after all this time._

Hannibal began unwrapping the many layers of his plaid clothing when Will Graham held up a hand for him to stop.

“Hannibal wait, I don’t want the dogs to see this,” Will Graham said, “Look away, Winston.”


End file.
